WASHINGTON

COUNCILMEMBERS OPPOSE IMMIGRATION MEASURES IN 9/11 BILL

Thirty-five members of the New York City Council sent a letter to Congress yesterday expressing concerns about several immigration provisions of September 11 legislation under consideration. “As local elected officials in a city where sixty percent of residents are immigrants or the children of immigrants, we feel a particular responsibility to express our views regarding proposed federal law that would adversely affect the lives of so many New Yorkers,” the council members wrote to the Congressional Conference Committee yesterday. Following recommendations of the September 11 commission, the Senate and House of Representatives passed separate intelligence bills to create a national anti-terrorism director and counterterrorism center. Although the conferees’ attempt to reach a compromise before Election Day appears to have failed – with disagreement over the role of the intelligence tsar and additional immigration provisions in the House version as the most pressing issues – they are slated to continue working on a measure for the lame-duck congressional session. The City Council members objected to four points of the House legislation:

* Creating what they called a de facto national identification card by federalizing state-issued driver’s licenses requirements.

* Denying basic judicial review of unfair or arbitrary deportations.

* Creating new obstacles for many asylum seekers.

* Barring habeas corpus review in torture cases, attorney malpractice or incompetence, and expedited removal.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

MIDWEST

MISSOURI STARTS PROGRAM TO IMPORT PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

CHICAGO – Missouri joined Illinois and Wisconsin in a new drug-import program to make cheaper prescription drugs available from Canada and Europe despite a federal ban on the imports. Governor Holden of Missouri appeared with Governor Blagojevich of Illinois at a news conference yesterday in Chicago to announce Missouri’s participation in the I-SaveRx drug program. Illinois and Wisconsin launched it this month to offer savings on about 100 medications of up to 50% off American retail prices. “As governors, we’re all concerned about the high cost of prescription drugs, especially as it effects those on limited income,” Mr. Holden said. The program works through a Canadian clearinghouse to connect residents to 45 foreign pharmacies and wholesalers approved by Illinois health inspectors. Only refills are allowed, and narcotics are excluded. The Food and Drug Administration opposes importing prescription drugs, saying it cannot guarantee the safety of drugs sold through foreign pharmacies. But the FDA has not shut down I-SaveRx or stopped other states from setting up Internet sites to help consumers buy drugs through Canadian pharmacies.

– Associated Press

AIDE TO TESTIFY AGAINST A FORMER GOVERNOR

CHICAGO – The right-hand man of the former Illinois governor, George Ryan, wiped away tears yesterday as he told a federal judge he does not want to testify against his former boss but will help prosecutors to keep the woman he loves out of prison. “My love for Andrea outweighs my disdain for this system,” Scott Fawell testified as his fiancee, Andrea Coutretsis, smiled at him. Mr. Fawell was called as a witness at a hearing to determine whether Ms. Coutretsis should get a break when she is sentenced for lying before a grand jury about corruption in the Illinois secretary of state’s office under Mr. Ryan. She pleaded guilty last December under an agreement with prosecutors that calls for a year in prison. Prosecutors now want a judge to cut that to six months in return for her help in persuading Mr. Fawell to cooperate. Mr. Fawell is now expected to be a key witness if Mr. Ryan goes to trial on racketeering charges. The charges grew out of a 6 1 /2-year investigation that initially centered on the paying of bribes for driver’s licenses and expanded to a variety of corruption.

– Associated Press